Upgrade project to the Avalonia 12 baseline and Plugin SDK v5: centralize Avalonia packages, remove legacy WebView.Avalonia usage (use NativeWebView/WebView2 EnvironmentRequested), and update Fluent/Material icon/package usages. Bump multiple package/project versions to 5.0.0 and Avalonia 12.0.1, update plugin template and README/docs to SDK v5, and add PLUGIN_SDK_V5_MIGRATION.md.
Also fix runtime/behavior bugs: make DataLocationResolver use a fixed bootstrap launcher data path and avoid recursive ResolveDataRoot; add legacy-state handling and extraction in OobeStateService; and update component settings tests to reflect migrated storage (DB/backup) and reset cache for test reloads. Various csproj, tests, and docs updated to reflect the migration and ensure build/test compatibility.
Introduce a persistent LauncherDebugSettingsStore and wire it into ErrorWindow and SplashWindow so dev-mode and custom host path can be saved/loaded. Harden DeploymentLocator/FlexibleHostLocator to safely normalize and validate saved debug paths and log warnings for malformed values. Add a WaitingForShell startup state and recoverable-activation logic across App and LauncherFlowCoordinator (with registry updates) so Launcher can attach to an in-progress desktop shell rather than failing. Clean up ErrorDebugWindow UI/flow (WasAccepted flag, localization fixes, event wiring) and improve splash version population. Improve AppVersionProvider to trim surrounding quotes, robustly parse version.json via JsonDocument and read string properties; add unit tests for AppVersionProvider, DeploymentLocator and LauncherDebugSettingsStore. Also quote Exec commands in the csproj and harden scripts/Generate-VersionFile.ps1 (argument normalization, LiteralPath, error handling).
Implement startup visual behavior, de-duplicate startup attempts, and improve failure UX.
Key changes:
- Add spec and docs for startup visuals and timing contract (.trae/specs and docs/LAUNCHER_STARTUP_VISUALS.md).
- Introduce StartupVisualPreferences contract and resolver; create SplashWindow via resolved mode.
- Add StartupAttemptRecord model and a file-backed StartupAttemptRegistry to persist and coordinate in-progress startup attempts (attach/adopt, soft/hard timeouts, IPC/connect state, lifecycle updates).
- Update LauncherFlowCoordinator to: adopt/attach to existing attempts, track IPC connection and soft/hard timeouts (30s/120s), show delayed UI state, attempt foreground recovery via public IPC, compose detailed launch result metadata, and mark registry states (soft timeout, detached waiting, succeeded, failed).
- Add TryActivateExistingInstanceAsync to attempt activating an existing desktop via IPC.
- Change failure flow: ShowFailureWindowAsync now returns user choice; ErrorWindow updated to present Activate/Wait/Open Logs/Exit semantics and new layouts/styles; improved button wiring and debug/dev mode handling.
- Add UI and resource tweaks (ErrorWindow and SplashWindow changes), project asset link for nightly logo, and unit tests for StartupVisualPreferences.
These changes prevent duplicate desktop processes during slow startups, provide clearer UX for delayed startups, and persist startup attempt state across Launcher invocations for safer recovery/attach behavior.
Add automatic release version stamping and multiple launcher reliability improvements. The Release workflow now runs scripts/Set-ReleaseVersion.ps1 in build jobs to inject tag-derived Version/AssemblyVersion into project metadata; several .csproj/Directory.Build.props and app.manifest files were changed to use a dev placeholder. Introduced AppVersionProvider (and related runtime metadata) to centralize version resolution and updated DeploymentLocator to use it and to prefer package-root/version.json. Launcher startup flow was hardened: added startup success tracking, public-activation recovery path, improved success/fallback semantics, and related IPC handling. UI/UX fixes include OOBE entrance/exit animation improvements (scaling-aware, concurrent fade+translate) and minor window lifecycle reorder in DesktopShellHost. CommandContext now recognizes restart and key=value args. New DesktopTrayService and .trae spec files (spec, checklist, tasks) document shell/tray hardening work. Miscellaneous logging, comments and housekeeping edits across launcher and shared contracts to support the above.
